(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for sorting out sheet-like articles.
(2) Background Information
Conventionally, treatments of sheet-like articles such as veneers standardized in rectangular forms required that selection be made from numerous sheet-like articles sequentially fed by means of feeding mechanism such as belt conveyors to a desired passage according to quality groups, storage time to be assured, change of storage places and other various needs such that selected sheet-like articles are sorted out to deviate from the desired passage to a different passage. In order to meet the above-mentioned needs, various sort-out devices have been put to actual use.
In an invention titled "thin plate stacking apparatus" disclosed by Japanese Kokoku Pub. No. 29-473, however, gaps are defined between the sheet-like articles to incorporate a direction changer into said gaps with the result that a tensile strength caused by difference of feeding speeds needed at the time of forming a gap makes fragile sheet-like articles subject to breakage.
Another example is an invention titled "Apparatus for Separately Conveying Veneers" disclosed by U. M. Appln. Kokoku Pub. No. 5-6304, in which the apparatus using a pierce transferring member for pierce feeding sheet-like articles has a problem of leaving piercing cuts therein. As disclosed in Pat. Appln. Kokoku Pub. No. 3-48000 (titled "Continuous Veneer Cutting Apparatus"), a displacement of the leading end of a sheet-like article is so large in a sort-out conveyor for sort-out feeding sheet-like articles to forwardly upwardly and forwardly downwardly that the sheet-like articles are subjected to a dynamic lift due to air resistance at the time of sorting out the articles forwardly upwardly and forwardly downwardly with the result that the appartus was made unpractical for high speed operation.